Congressman wants to repeal every regulation from the last 20 years.

This is one way to think outside the box in trying to jump start the economy; repeal all regulations passed in the past 20 years to get them out of
the way of business so the economy can grow.

Rep. Don Young to Repeal Every Regulation Enacted Since 1991

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska, left) plans to introduce a controversial bill that would abolish every federal regulation enacted in the past two decades,
including restrictions on banking, oil drilling, healthcare, and food and drug safety. "My bill is very simple, I just null and
void any regulations passed in the last 20 years," Young announced to a crowd at the Anchorage Downtown Rotary Club. "I picked 20 years ago because
it crossed party lines and also we were prosperous at that time. And no new regulations until they can justify them."

Rep. Young’s legislation is still in development, but the premise of the bill is to dissolve burdensome regulations that hamper American businesses
from growing and prospering in the sluggish U.S. economy. "The main thing is if an agency can’t justify a regulation, it shouldn’t be on the
board," he contended. "The overall idea behind the legislation is to make sure an agency justifies these regulations." The Alaskan congressman did
however cede to the likely fate that his proposal would be barricaded by the Democratic-led Senate or stamped with a veto by President Obama.

Regardless of the bill’s details, the binding reality is regulatory agencies have boomed over the past decade, and at a more progressive rate during
the Obama administration. According to a study by the Heritage Foundation, 75 new major regulations have been enacted — costing $38 billion annually
— since President Obama took office.

Its nice to see some outside the box thinking for ways to bring back the economy and there is no doubt that regulations create a huge burden upon
industry but, a blanket repeal of every one for the past 20 years seems awful extreme. Many of those regulations do protect consumers from dangerous
products, help to preserve the environment and protect worker safety so I would hate to see them throw out the baby with the bath water and get rid of
the few good regs along with all the bad.

I think a better approach would be to study the current regulations, force the regulating agencies to justify them and toss the ones that are overly
burdensome without providing sufficient benefit to justify the expense placed on industry.

I'm especially worried about tossing the regs on banking and the financial industry. They are the least regulated parts of the economy and, if not
closely monitored, can devastate the economy. It makes me wonder if this whole dump the regs movement wasn't inspired by lobbyists from the financial
sector.

Originally posted by FortAnthem
get rid of the few good regs along with all the bad.
It makes me wonder if this whole dump the regs movement wasn't inspired by lobbyists from the financial sector.

That's the thing...there's way more good regulations than bad ones.
And yes, this whole "regulation" talk is just corporate propaganda. The corporations want to poison you. They want to feed you #, literally. They
want to steal all of your property. They want to pay you a dollar an hour. Corporations want to own you.
But "regulations" stop them from these things. All of the regulation talk is pure unadulterated propaganda.
Ever notice how they never discuss a single specific regulation that they want to remove...it's always "We hate regulations, they kill jobs. The
Environment Protection Agency kills jobs and needs to be abolished. How does it kill jobs? Don't ask us that...ask us how we can abolish the EPA.
What specific regulation has ever prevented a company from hiring someone? Don't ask us that..."

I think a better approach would be to study the current regulations, force the regulating agencies to justify them and toss the ones that are overly
burdensome without providing sufficient benefit to justify the expense placed on industry.

I fully agree with that idea. But that's not what the Republicans and the corporations want...they want what I said above. Very few of the
regulations are "bad" regulations. They actually want more regulations for you and I, but less regulations for themselves.

For Americans it's the fact that the Constitution and Bill of Rights were abandoned several decades ago, and show no sign of being respected by our
current leaders.

I think this guy is just trying to make a small-government point in a way that might get some attention.

But he might do better to list all those laws, who supported them, and what, if any effect they had on the country. I think he would expose the more
likely result that most of those laws had very little effect good, bad, or otherwise and that what our elected representatives seem to do with most of
their time on the job is twiddle their thumbs.

But that doesn't mean that you should legalize murder just because a law against murder doesn't stop people from killing each other. Laws aren't
just "rules." They are a formal statement of a society's values. Does a society want to waste its future generations by screening children for
"mental health issues" thereby turning thousands of them over to the mental health system? If it does, there will be a law on the books saying that
money should be spent to support such a program. If they don't, then there might or might not be a law absolutely forbidding such practices.

We know criminals find ways to get around laws, but that's not the point. Our laws tell us and the world what actions we consider criminal and what
we consider okay. Beyond that, there is probably a ton of useless junk that should be thrown away. But I wouldn't walk in with a nuke and try to
convince everyone that it's the only way to solve the problem.

Probably the biggest problem with regulations is that, at some point, congress ceded its authority to the regulatory agencies, allowing them to create
new regulations with a vote never being cast in congress for or against them. Many of the regulations passed in the past 20 years were never voted on
by congress; they were invented by a bunch of faceless bureaucrats with no accountability to the people.

Often these bureaucrats will create the regulations to justify the existence of their agency or to create more work for themselves so that they can
justify additional funding for their agencies. Also, many of the regulatory agencies have been co-opted by the very industries they are supposed to be
keeping an eye on. These industries use the regulatory agencies to crush their smaller competitors with nuisance fines and compliance requirements
that the mega corporations can just write off but, create an insurmountable burden for start up businesses. They use the regulations to crush smaller
competitors so they can buy up their assets.

Regulatory agencies serve the mega corporations and have not protected the consumer or the workers in years. Regulations do need to be looked at to
ensure that they really do protect the little guy without crushing the small entrepreneur and also holding the big corps accountable for their
actions.

This proposal does bring attention to a big problem in government but, the simplistic solution is highly unlikely to go anywhere. Hopefully, it will
create a serious investigation into which regulations are really needed and return to congress the sole power to pass new regulations through proper
legislation.

I like it...it sounds like a good idea. Might need some study, but I like the direction in which it goes.

How do regulations keep an economy down? How do regulations via the EPA hurt growth?

Would we be able to build the Hoover Dam under current EPA tregulations... or the TVA... or the Blue Ridge Parkway... or the Inter Coastal Waterway?
Or would they be halted because of some small unknown fish or bird?

Potential oil fields in west Texas are undeveloped now because of a tiny animal...what would a booming oil field do for a local and regional economy?
Look to North Dakota... actually a labor shortage there. People are making 10-15 dollars washing dishes in restuarants because there is such a labor
shortage.

Have any of you tried to start a business? Look at all the paper hoops you have to jump through and all of the regulations you have to meet to just
establish a small business... And yes, I am in the process of turning my hobby farm into a regular established business, so I am aware.

But the EPA is just one example. Tack on the ObamaCare, new taxes, new documentation, new documentation to support and verify taxes, new rules.

I am an asst manager at a farm supply store. Because of new rules and documentation from the EPA, DHS, DMV of NC, the transaction time to process the
sell of welding gas has gone from a simple purchase and trade in the old weld gas cannister to about a 5 minute ordeal for the seller and
consumer...proper ID, verification, paperwork filed...now that sounds easy enough. But now I have to have someone available to run the second register
while this one customer buying gas ties up the first register for 5 minutes. That means more payroll and more time doing paperwork...which means my
overhead just went up...which means the cost to you, the consumer, just went up...which translates into higher prices...which means you suddenly have
less money... which hurts the next purchase and retailer...which hurts the economy...and so it goes.

So yes, it would be good to see so many of the regulations go away. On the other hand, regulation and laws for technologies should be closely and
cautiously reviewed...ie internet, food safety and imports, etc.

I'll tell you another stupid law and regulation...tire pressure sensors on autos and that damned little light on the dash. Are people so stupid that
they can't tell when their tire needs air? Or all the new "safety"features on new vehicles...we can't make the neat, highly economical cars and
trucks that are sold in Mexico by Ford and Chevy because of the regulations on vehicles sold in the US...one of the reasons a Chevy Colorado does not
get the mileage of a S-10...it's predecessor.

Yup, I think this bill would go a long way to benefit a lot of folks... rich and poor...but I have never been hired by a poor person and I never
worked at a business a poor person owned. Further, by cutting some restrictions and regulations, the price on certain goods and services would go
down...benefiting poor people.

I think that, rather than repealing all regulations from the past 20 years, congress should make all regulatory agencies justify all of their
regulations to congress with an eye toward cutting unnecessary and/or overly burdensome regulations. They should seek to reduce regulations by at
least 20% (except on banks and Wall Street traders who have virtually no regulations to begin with) in order to streamline laws and make it less
confusing to try to operate a business.

They should give them a timetable (say about 2 years) for them to justify every regulation, after which point, all regulations will expire unless
congress votes to keep them in place. They also need to have congress take back its authority and not allow regulatory agencies to create new
regulations anymore. All new regulations should have to be voted on by congress so the people will know who to hold accountable.

All laws in the U.S. should have a 5 year sundown clause. In 5 years, said law expires unless voted on by the citizens of the U.S. We have too many
laws negatively affecting us today that may have been necessary when they were created, but are unreasonable today (Patriot Act, over 21 to drink
alcohol, drug laws, etc.).

Its nice to see some outside the box thinking for ways to bring back the economy and there is no doubt that regulations create a huge burden
upon industry but, a blanket repeal of every one for the past 20 years seems awful extreme. Many of those regulations do protect consumers from
dangerous products, help to preserve the environment and protect worker safety so I would hate to see them throw out the baby with the bath water and
get rid of the few good regs along with all the bad.

Which is why it will never happen even though it is the right thing to do.

I think a better approach would be to study the current regulations, force the regulating agencies to justify them and toss the ones that are
overly burdensome without providing sufficient benefit to justify the expense placed on industry.

They have been doing this for decades now and look where the economy is and where we're headed. Why would we want to continue this nonsense?
Regulation is nothing more then protecting markets for the politically connected Elite. It stifles thier competition allowing them to take advantage
of the people since they are the only game in town.

'm especially worried about tossing the regs on banking and the financial industry. They are the least regulated parts of the economy and, if
not closely monitored, can devastate the economy. It makes me wonder if this whole dump the regs movement wasn't inspired by lobbyists from the
financial sector.

This is a common myth believed by many.. The fact is they are highly regulated however the regulation favors a few at the top and stifles thier
competition and protects these elite politically connected banksters like Goldman Sachs etc.. That is the problem. Deregulation has gotten a bad rap
because what they do is deregulate just the Elite at the top stifling any real competition and then say see deregulation does not work and they want
more regulations etc. but some how the elite continue to screw us and no real competition is allowed because instead of protecting people from the
elite all it does is crush the competition. If these "To Big to Fails" actually had to compete in a true fair free market without thier government
puppets to protect them and bail them out with all this "so called regulation" they would have failed decades ago. This is what true deregulation
would do it would allow a true free market and allow fair competition which is why it will never pass!

But we will continue to hear the cries of "More Regulation" from the uninformed, the misguided, and of course the shills themselves at the top who
are leading us to economic destruction...

not a bad idea reagans deregualtion led the way for 17 million jobs created

which is something no other president has ever done and the reality of it is that those regulations hurt small business owners.

and think about it regulation has done nothing but destroy job and wealth creation doesnt stop the maddoffs of this country didnt stop the enrons
didnt stop the leiman brothers didnt stop any bailouts that happened under both potus's.

loosen regulations and its a two fold win increased revenue for people and increased tax revenue for the government

for anyone paying attention to current events both people and the government have income problems.

Televised congressional hearings often serve as a platform for members of Congress to berate, bloviate and showboat for the cameras, but at a House
Natural Resources Committee hearing Tuesday, historian Douglas Brinkley wouldn't stand for it.

The topic at hand was drilling in the the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The trouble began when Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young misstated
Brinkley's name after referring to the hearing as "an exercise in futility." In a certain breach of protocol, Brinkley cut him off.

Young didn't like that one bit.

"You just be quiet," Young demanded.

"You don't own me," Brinkley shot back. "I pay your salary!"

Washington Republican Rep. Doc Hastings, the chairman of the committee, tried to break it up, but then Brinkley interrupted him.

"I work for the private sector," Brinkley said.

When the chairman returned the floor to Young, the rumble began anew.

"We're the ones who ask the questions, and you're the one who answers the questions," Young said. "Boy I'm really pissed right now."

Obviously, it's a must-watch; you can see the exchange in the video above.

I agree and I think this issue should be in the national spotlight. Here's my solution, Constitution and other equally important documents aside,
re-write everything and toss out the old. Every old law or regulation, including the tax code and penal code, declared null and void.

Simply tossing out all regulations from the past 20 years would do way more harm than good.

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